Mini SPARTAN
by CJ-T-Bone
Summary: Chief gets turned into a child. Kelly thinks he needs a mother. Kelly/Chief friendship. Story is better than summary... I hope.


**Hello peoples, I had this idea, one night thinking to myself what was Chief like as a kid. Then I thought about the other SPARTANS. Then I wondered what would happen if Chief was turned into a kid. It was a long train of thought. Anyways here it is, I tried to check my spelling and grammar but as always I am only human. If I made a mistake, please find it in your heart to forgive me.**

**Also: I don't have enough money to own Halo.**

* * *

Chief was on the front line of the ground assault, and for once they were winning. Chief stood by the other soldiers as he allowed his assault rifle to mow down all those before him.

"Their bringing in a cannon!" One of the soldiers shouted. Chief looked towards where the soldier was pointing and saw a cannon that he had never seen before.

"Cortana?" Chief asked. Cortana understood the question and started scanning.

"Yeah, I don't know what it is." She said after a moment, all her scans proved null.

"Let's see if I can break it." He stated and ran towards the cannon.

As he arrived the cannon powered up and shot a single pulse hitting Chief dead centre. The cannon itself overloaded and exploded while Chief was thrown all the way back to the rest of the soldiers. Chief lay motionless as the war continued. An hour later the humans had won the battle.

The soldiers gathered around the fallen SPARTAN. His armour twitching, one of the soldiers removed his helmet. Every Soldier's mouth hung open and some of them even dropped their guns from shock. Before them was the master Chief, except he was thirteen years old.

His hair was long and messy, he had freckles on his nose and cheeks and his scars had vanished. He seemed to know what was going on.

"Please get me to Halsey's lab immediately." He said; his voice was young and he strained to keep himself from shouting. He was absolutely pissed.

* * *

Halsey was busy at her computer when she heard a knock on her door, she stood up and answered. She opened it to 3 ODST soldiers each holding their helmets in front of them and looking sad.

"Yes." She greeted worrying slightly. Soldiers only showed up at your door when they wanted to kill you or tell you that a family member was dead.

"Doctor, something happened to Chief on the field." One of them said. The doctors worry increased.

"Is he okay?!" She asked concerned.

The soldiers shared a glance. "Define 'okay'." The second soldier said.

The doctor was now very concerned. "He's not dead and in one piece." She said.

The third soldier smiled but it didn't reach his eyes. "Then he's fine."

"Where is he?" Halsey said finally getting annoyed with the procrastinating soldiers.

None of the soldiers were sure what to say. So they just stepped aside to show a thirteen year old boy in a big t-shirt, no shoes or pants. Halsey's jaw dropped, she would have recognised Chief anywhere and that was him.

"Hey doctor." John greeted with a raised hand. Halsey blinked a few times then fainted.

"I think she took it quite well." One of the soldiers said. John nodded.

* * *

When Halsey woke up she found that John had made her some coffee and had gotten her a biscuit. The soldiers had left a while ago.

"You okay doctor?" John asked. Halsey nodded, biting her lips and accepting the coffee. She took slow sips as she tried to wrap her mind around the fact that Chief was now a child.

Halsey didn't talk for a long time till she realised Chief was shivering a little in his over-sized t-shirt. "You cold?" She asked.

"I'm fine." He said flatly. Halsey smiled, his personality was still the same. She stood up and went to her cupboard.

"I don't know why, but when we came on this mission, something told me that I had to bring this." She said turning around with training MJOLNIR armour in her hands. It looked exactly like Chiefs but only smaller. It even had Chiefs number on it.

Chief smiled wide and hurriedly put it on.

"It's different from when I remember it." He noted as he put the last of the armour on. The last time he wore it was during basic training. Halsey smiled; he looked like a mini SPARTAN.

"It was slightly altered before I took it." She admitted. She fell into a chair with her head in her hands. "Oh John, I don't what I'm gonna do, I mean you're a child again and-" She trailed off. Chief came forward and gave her a hug.

"It's okay doctor." He said patting her back. He pulled away. "Cortana got some readings of the weapon that hit me; maybe you could reverse engineer it to fix me." He suggested.

She nodded. "Where is Cortana?" She asked.

"Still with my armour." John said. Halsey nodded.

"Okay let's go and get her." She said and the pair headed to the other lab to get Cortana.

As John and Halsey entered the SPARTAN armory, everything went quiet and all eyes were on Chief. The other SPARTANS just stared at Chief as if he was the strangest thing in the universe.

Chief had to keep a slow jog to keep up with Halsey's purposeful steps. Chief didn't bother greeting the other SPARTANS or anyone else for that matter. He had nothing to say. They found his armour; John quickly ran around it and pulled out Cortana's AI chip and gave it to Halsey.

"Alright John, I'll see what Cortana has and I'll call you if I learn anything new." The doctor said and walked away. John nodded and was left to his own devices.

His stomach rumbled and he decided food was a good idea; he was a growing boy after all. He mentally smirked at his own joke.

He arrived in the cafeteria. He grabbed a tray of food and looked for a place to sit. Most of the soldiers were staring unabashedly at him. He ignored them and found his usual secluded spot. It was a table specifically for SPARTANS.

He sat down then frowned. He was too short to see above the table. He sighed and stood on the chair and frown again realising that now he was too tall.

"Need some help?" A voice said from his side, he turned to the voice. It was Kelly. John smiled at her and she smiled back slightly.

"I'll figure it out eventually." He said then looked at the table. "Though I am open to ideas." He added when he realised that he didn't have an idea himself.

She sat down next to him. "You know this kinda reminds me of basic training." She said looking at John with a half-smile. He turned to look at her still standing on the chair.

"You mean when you were taller than me and decided to dye your hair blue?" He asked.

Her smile widened. "You actually remember that?" She prompted.

"How could I forget?" He smiled. "You kept reminding me about it day after day. Even for a few years after I outgrew you." He said.

Kelly laughed slightly.

"So ideas." He prompted.

"I got one but you're not gonna like." She said.

Chief's stomach grumbled. "I'll deal with it." He said

"Okay." She said, she lifted him and sat him on her lap. Chief noted it was the perfect height but it somehow made him uncomfortable.

"This is your idea of an idea." Chief asked over his shoulder to Kelly. She smiled and shrugged.

Chief pushed the uncomfortably aside, reached forward, grabbed his food and began to eat. Kelly just watched him.

"Don't get too attached, I'm not going to be like this for long." Chief said when he noticed her staring.

"I won't." She said, her smile said she was enjoying this way too much. Chief ignored her to the best of his abilities.

He was on the last of his meal when Fred arrived and sat across from them with his own food and armour.

"Hey Chief." Fred said casually. John nodded his greeting.

When Chief finished, he tried to get off of Kelly's lap but she held him in place and played with his hair.

"Kelly." He warned.

She laughed. "Sorry, John but your just so cute-" She gushed. Many of the other soldiers had left but a few still remained and they apparently found the situation amusing. Fred wasn't sure what to think, he wasn't sure if he should laugh or cry.

"I am not cute." John argued as he pushed himself away from Kelly and stood on the chair. "I am a genetically altered super soldier and still your commanding officer." He said looking sternly at her, though his childish features couldn't convey the message properly.

Kelly's expression became neutral before she burst out in laughter. Even Fred showed signs of a smile on his face.

"Sorry John, but..." She tried to control her laughter. "... I just can't take you seriously looking like that." She said. "You're just so cute." She said smiling.

John scowled but it came off more as a pout.

"When I get back to my full size I'll show you cute." John said and jumped down from the chair and left. Kelly stood up and followed him. John wasn't in the mood for her and began to sprint away, Kelly just sprinted after him laughing as she did.

John knew he couldn't out run her; she was the fastest of the SPARTANS, but that didn't stop him from trying.

She caught up with him, picked him up and hugged him.

"Kelly!" John shouted.

"Come on John, enjoy the moment." She said. She kept him in her arms as she walked to Halsey's lab.

"This is humiliating." He muttered to himself. Kelly just smiled and continued walking, ignoring the questioning looks of everyone walking past.

As they entered Halsey's lab Kelly spoke first. "Can we keep him?" Kelly asked with a smile that reached her eyes.

The doctor turned to look at the pair. The look of disbelief on her face was easy to read.

"Please tell her to put me down." John requested his face set in a pout.

The doctor nodded at Kelly and she put John on the ground. He crossed his arms and pouted.

"John, I have some bad news for you." The doctor said.

"Please don't tell me that." He muttered. Kelly looked almost happy.

"The weapon was created for disintegration. I have no idea why it did what it did. The only way for you to become an adult again, is to actually grow old." Halsey said sadly.

"So were keeping him?" Kelly asked excitedly. Halsey nodded. Kelly pumped her fist into the air in a way that was very unbecoming of a SPARTAN. "Yes!" She said happily. "I know just where to put him." Kelly said and ran out of the room faster than either Halsey or John had ever seen her run.

A moment of silence passed before Halsey spoke up again. "She always did want a kid." She commented.

"And I'm OK with that," Chief said calmly. "BUT WHY DOES IT HAVE TO BE ME!" He shouted his arms in pleading gestures and his eyes wide with annoyance.

Halsey shrugged.

Chiefs head hung, "Do you have a helmet, I don't think I could ever show my face again." He said.

Halsey gave him a mini MJOLNIR helmet. John grabbed it and put it on. He now looked exactly like a mini version of the old Chief.

"I'm going to the gym, if Kelly asks; tell her I threw myself out the airlock." Chief muttered and walked out of the lab with his head hung low. The doctor pitied him but couldn't think of anything that could help him.

She turned back to her computer and looked over the tests again to see if there was anything she had missed. A few minutes later Kelly came back and looked around for Chief.

"Where's John?" Kelly asked.

"He went to the gym." The doctor said.

"Won't he get hurt?" She asked with almost motherly worry.

"He's still augmented, so I'd say he's about half as strong as he used to be, so he probably won't get hurt." Halsey said. Kelly nodded and sprinted to the gym, the word 'Probably' wasn't very convincing.

Chief was in the gym at the bench press. A lot of soldiers were there and most were watching him as he put the weights on. He had put on 200 kilograms just to test how far he had fallen. Before he was turned into a child he could do 1.5 tons.

He laid down, but just as he was about to try to lift it, the bar lifted by itself, he sat up and saw Kelly had taken it away using one arm. She put the bar down a small distance away.

"What do you think you are doing?" John snapped.

"You're not starting with the heavy weights yet, and take off that helmet..." Kelly said. "...you're not in combat." John took off his helmet and heard the other soldiers snickering. He gave them a glare over his shoulder but otherwise ignored them.

"And what weight do you think I should start with?" John asked, tossing his helmet aside and crossing his arms.

Kelly went to the side and brought a 20 kilo dumbbell.

John stared at it with a raised eyebrow. "You can't be serious." He said.

She held it out to him and he took it. "Hold it out to your side." John did as she asked. He barely felt the weight and held it for almost 3 whole minutes before he got bored and tossed it back to Kelly, she caught it out of the air without even trying. She went to put it away then came back with a 40 kilo dumbbell.

John took in a calming breath. "Kelly, we've been friends for a long time." John began, holding his palms together.

She nodded. "Yeah, since we were 9." She said.

"So we can talk about anything?" John asked. Kelly nodded. "Good. Because you are starting to annoy me." The hurt showed on Kelly's face. "Kelly I don't if you realise this, but I'm a grown man!" He said a little louder than he meant to.

"Despite my current stature, I have the mind of a 35-year-old soldier, I can field strip any gun in existence, I am well versed in English, French and 7 other languages! And although you've always wanted a kid doesn't give you the right to mother me!" Chiefs voice began to rise. "I am older than you and I am your commanding officer. So drop the mother bullshit, because I am NOT YOUR CHILD!" Chief shouted.

If SPARTANS weren't trained to not cry, Kelly would have tears flowing from her in waves. Instead she just stood there looking at the brooding Chief. His face contorted in rage, Kelly blinked and saw the old Chief, she blinked again and he was a kid again.

She nodded. "Yes sir." She said softly and headed for the exit. Chief watched her leave, guilt gripping his chest. He looked at the other soldiers but they all looked away as he turned. He sighed and went to get the bar with the 200 kilograms on it. He lifted it with a grunt and placed back on the bench.

He slid in under the bar and started with some reps; to him it felt as though it was his max. He put it back and chopped off 50 kilograms. Before he slid under the bar again, his head went back to Kelly. He regretted that he shouted at her but it had to be said.

He hung his head and decided that he should go and apologise. He put the weights back and retrieved his helmet. He put it on and left for the SPARTAN barracks.

He found Kelly, still armoured, lying on her bunk with her head facing the wall. He walked to her, removing his helmet along the way. He touched her shoulder. "Kelly." He prompted.

She sat up and looked down at him. "Hey Chief." She greeted.

"I would like to apologise for what I said in the gym." He said.

"It's fine." She said not looking at him.

"I hate it when people say 'it's fine.'" John said crossing his arms.

"You say it all the time." She argued softly.

"That's why I hate it, it's my thing." He smiled. Kelly smiled a little as well. He sighed and sat on the bed next to her. It didn't have the same effect as when he had his old body but he was gonna roll with it. "Look, I now you've always wanted a kid, heck I even remember there was a time where you asked Halsey to make you a clone that you could raise yourself." Kelly smiled at the memory. "But despite the fact that I look thirteen, I'm still John 117 the 35-year-old super soldier..." Kelly nodded. ..."and also your best friend." He added. Kelly looked at him and smiled lightly.

"Thanks John." She said. John nodded, his own smile playing on his lips.

"Let's get back to the cafeteria, the work out made me hungry." He said and jumped off the bed. Kelly smiled a little and walked with him.

As they left the barracks, Kelly smirked. "Wanna race?" She asked. Chief was already speed walking to keep up with her.

Chief looked up at her, his voice muffled by his helmet. "You, the fastest human in existence, want to race me, a thirteen year old boy?" He asked.

"No, I wanna race my friend, the 35-year-old super soldier." She said back.

Chief scoffed behind his helmet. "You would lose." He said, despite the fact he knew she would kick his ass.

"Why don't we find out?" She smirked.

"We don't need to find out, I already know I would win, there would be no point in proving it." He said.

Kelly laughed and bumped her hip against his shoulder. "You definitely are the _Master Chief._" She said. Chief walked a little straighter and added some swagger in his step, swinging his arms like he thought he was cool.

"And don't you ever forget it." He said.

The next morning Chief woke up as an adult again. Kelly was only slightly disappointed and Halsey gave up trying to figure out why the most random of things happen to Chief.

* * *

**AN:There it is, it's not much but I thought it was a good idea. Review if you liked it or thought it was too stupid. Whatever. Just no flames please. I am a sensitive human being.**


End file.
